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SAGINAW, MI — Eric Davis is already a lot of things.

He’s a point guard on the Arthur Hill High School boys basketball team with a good handle and silky smooth shot, and he’s the current headliner in a long line of Lumberjack stars.

Davis is a blue chip recruit and one of the best high school basketball players in the country. He’s the potential future and a possible savior for any one of dozens of Division I programs across the country.

He’s also 17, and his uncle, Tony Davis, can remember when it all started.

“I can remember the day he took off,” Davis said. “He was a seventh-grader at Ruben Daniels Middle School, and he was playing against (Saginaw High standouts) Keyon Addison, Jerry Smith, Joe Powell and those guys.

“Eric was guarding (future All-State guard) Keyon in practice, and he wasn’t giving it his all. I got on him about playing hard, and he stepped it up. He looked at me, as if a challenge, and said, ‘Is this what you want?’ From that day forward, he’s played like a monster.”

High school phenom

He’s a 6-foot-3, 170-pound monster for the opposition, and the elite scoring ability he’s shown in his three-year varsity career is quickly prompting his inclusion among the all-time basketball greats to come through Saginaw — a list that includes Jason Richardson, Draymond Green, Anthony Roberson and many more.

Davis as a person is somewhat reserved, and, physically, he doesn’t stand out in a crowd. But put him on a basketball court, and he shines.

“It’s a stress reliever for me,” he said. “The basketball court is a place where I can get in the zone and relax.”

He made his way into the starting lineup for a veteran-laden Lumberjacks team as a freshman due to his high basketball IQ and ability to run an offense. Now he’s made the team his own with an uncanny ability to score and set up his teammates.

“He was the first freshman I had start for me, and I’ve had a lot of talented ones,” Arthur Hill coach Greg McMath said. “Dar Tucker (DePaul), Maurice Jones (USC), Jordan Hare (Rhode Island), and Eric was the only one until this year, when Brian Bowen started as a freshman.

“He proved he belonged from the get-go.”

Davis served primarily as a facilitator as a freshman with Division I forwards Jordan Hare (Rhode Island) and Jalen Adams (St. Bonaventure) on the roster, but he added scoring to his repertoire as a sophomore when he averaged 19 points, seven assists and four rebounds a game.

He’d already earned scholarship offers from Michigan State and North Carolina State by that time, in addition to being invited to try out for the U.S.A. Basketball Developmental Team.

All that came before he showed his ability to take over a game.

As a junior, he took over the role of go-to-guy for the Lumberjacks and responded with a pair of 30-point performances during holiday tournaments before dropping 43 points on a Mount Pleasant team that advanced to the Class A state semifinals.

He added a 39-point outburst against defending state champion Romulus before closing out the regular season with 32 points against Flint Northwestern.

However, despite the individual success, Davis still craves the postseason team success that Arthur Hill has lacked during his tenure, with three district tournament losses to Saginaw High.

“You’ve got to put him in the conversation (with Saginaw’s all-time greats),” Tony Davis said. “But now with it being his senior year, can he do what Maurice (Jones didn't do) and win a state championship? Can he do what Jason (Richardson) didn’t do and win a state championship? You can get all the personal accolades you want, but can you take your team to a state championship?”

Highly sought-after recruit

Davis’ potential brought offers from Michigan State and North Carolina State as a freshman, but his development over the last two years has added scholarship offers from teams throughout the country.

His composite ranking by 247sports.com, which averages rankings from all the major recruiting sites, has Davis ranked as the No. 32 prospect and No. 6 shooting guard in the country. Until recently, he had been ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the state of Michigan.

That lofty status has brought coaches from programs such as UConn, Michigan, Florida, Georgetown and Kansas among the more than two dozen programs who’ve offered scholarships to Davis.

He plays for The Family of the Elite Youth Basketball League based out of Detroit, and he’s had a busy “offseason” with invitations to the Chris Paul Elite Point Guard Camp, NBA Top-100, Deron Williams Skills Academy and the Nike Point Guard Skills Academy before finishing up with the LeBron James Skills Academy in Las Vegas.

“It’s pretty busy, especially in the summer months,” said Davis’ mom Merry Christmas. “That’s when his AAU starts, and camps want him to come. It’s busy.

“It’s exciting, too. He’s really good at it. His AAU coach told me it was going to get big for him as he got older because he’s gotten so much better.”

Davis is scheduled to attend the USA Basketball Men’s Development Team training camp at the national team’s facilities in Colorado Springs in July. If selected to the team, he’d compete in the FIBA U17 World Championships in Dubai from Aug. 8-16.

“He wants to play against the highest competition he can, and that helps him out a lot,” McMath said.

Davis said he’s waiting for the end of the AAU and camp season before settling on a Top-5 in July with the hopes of making a decision in September or October. He confirmed that two of his official visits are going to be to UCLA and UNLV.

Managing the madness

It can be overwhelming at times when a high-profile college men’s basketball coach says you’re the future of his program.

But Davis is used to hearing the pitch.

He’s sat down with Tom Izzo, John Beilein, Thad Matta and more who’ve told him he could be the face of their program. Classmates and random strangers blow up his phone trying to find out where he’s leaning, or sell the virtues of their favorite schools.

“It’s getting a little antsy because he hasn’t really decided yet,” Christmas said. “So we’re waiting, but he’s a respectable kid. I just tell him to be himself.”

Christmas said her primary concern is that Davis finds a place where he’s comfortable and can get a good education.

“That’s very important,” she said. “That’s my goal: to have a college graduate.”

Davis’ goal is to find a program where he can study business management and play for a coach and team he feels comfortable with, and he’s trying to make sure he’s ready the moment he steps on campus.

In addition to the AAU circuit and all of the camps he attends, Davis has his own workout schedule that begins with a mile run in the morning followed by an hour-long workout at Arthur Hill. Then he reconvenes for another 45-minute workout around 8 p.m.

“I’m just working on every little aspect and polishing my game,” Davis said. “Then between my workouts, I’m trying to relax and enjoy being a teenager.”

Davis said he’s planning to narrow down his list of suitors by the end of July or early August and make his final selection in September or October.

That’ll give him time to put an end to all the recruiting business and focus on his main goal his senior season.

“We want to win a state championship,” he said.

Cory Butzin covers sports for MLive/Saginaw News. Email him at cbutzin1@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter.